The DC Food Truck Association is really concerned about the “10 foot rule” in the Mayor’s proposed food truck regulations, and we all should be, too! It states that food trucks can’t park on a side of the street if there is an obstruction on the sidewalk that reduces the width of the sidewalk to under 10 feet. The DCFTA notes that this kind of rule is copied over from brick and mortar sidewalk cafe rules which, by the way, only need to provide 6 feet of sidewalk space (pdf).

The DCFTA conducted a site survey of the 10 most popular serving locations in the District and found that brick and mortar restaurants can potentially keep food trucks out of 8 of those 10 locations! The 10 foot rule has to go, and we need food truck fans to make their voice heard by next Tuesday (Nov 13) when the comment period closes.